Women of Washington

About the Hosts

Aileen Black (left) and Gigi Schumm (right) have made their careers in the government IT community. They are the founding partners of Accelerated Government Strategies (AGS Group). Prior to their roles here, Black served as vice president and general manager for VMware's Public Sector for 9 years, while Schumm was the vice president and general manager of Symantec's Public Sector for 15 years.

Wednesdays, 9 a.m.

Women of Washington is a weekly radio program that features interviews with Washington D.C.'s ambitious and influential female executives - role models for the next generation Washington leader. Every week, hosts Aileen Black and Gigi Schumm interview the most accomplished women in Washington, who share their life lessons and secrets to success. Contact Aileen and Gigi via email at gigi@accelgovstrat.com and aileen@accelgovstrat.com.

In light of today's increased risk of insider threats, Singer believes agencies
need to be watchful for future leaks "by encrypting data in transit, in use, and
on screen." Singer also says there needs to be a scaled migration within agencies
from compliance to risk management and, ultimately, to implementing counter
measures. She says an increased focus on vetting and verifying employees, along
with monitoring current workers, is part of the key to minimizing insider threats.

Federal agencies are adopting a cloud approach Singer calls "enterprise cloud," a
private cloud that lets an agency customize its software to meet its security
needs. Singer believes the enterprise cloud will allow both civilian and
classified agencies to utilize the benefits of cloud computing while remaining
watchful of an agency's specific risk posture.

Singer also discusses her path through the ranks of the Intelligence Community
— from her start as an ambitious college grad recruited by the CIA until
now. On the way, she notes both receiving and offering mentorship has been
instrumental to her success. Singer talks about how to get more girls interested
in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) careers and shares advice for
young women in the Intelligence Community.